Cultural appropiation had existed as a very vague concept within my understanding for a very long time, especially because it had never been properly discussed in my local environment, yet reading about it this past week has made me realize that’s it’s an essential concept that we must all open up the discourse to. Upon reflection, I’ve managed to observe that cultural appropiation is present virtually everywhere and, in most cases,  it’s hugely underlooked by our modern society. Though there are instances where cultural appropiation has been called out in the media in the form of, say, celebrities like the Kardashians profiting off of Black culture, there are still thousands of micro actions and behaviours that we have normalized as a society, which blatantly appropiate and commercialize a wide variety of cultural elements without acknowledging its traditional value. We see this everyday in clothing, in instagram influencer’s posts, and in products that are being sold to us by the media. The topic of cultural appropriation has become so normalized to the point that even rural communities in Latin America, such is Peru are adopting it as a means to promote “eco-tourism”, such as through the popular Ayahuasca retreats, which in most cases hold little to zero acknowledgement of the ancestral practice of Ayahuasca consumption. I believe that what appalled me the most from reading about this concept was the fact that it contributes to cement the domination of Indigenous communities that have been colonized, further establishing an oppressor/oppressed dynamic.

Alternatively, I was pleased to read more about Indigenous Agroecology, mainly because I’ve grown up in an environment where traditional agricultural practices have been mostly respected and learning about the benefits that it can bring to Indigenous communities and the economy has encouraged me reflect on how valuable it is. For instance, Peru still honors the traditional Incan method of growing crops via “andenes” which are platforms built into the mountains that make for an extremely effective agricultural system. Although not many countries make use of Indigenous agricultural methods due to the industrialization of these practices, I believe that it would be a great alternative to take into consideration, within the current state of the world.